Exploit allows Apple ID account hijack with little info [u]

updated 03:47 pm EDT, Fri March 22, 2013

by MacNN Staff

Two-step verification only current defense

(Updated with Apple disabling the iForgot password retrieval page) A new exploit lets people hijack an Apple ID account using only an email address and someone's date of birth, says The Verge. The process involves pasting in a modified URL while answering the date of birth question on Apple's password retrieval page. Doing this lets someone reset an Apple ID's password, locking out the original owner unless they can get Apple's help.

The only remedy to the problem appears to be the two-step verification process Apple introduced just yesterday. That forces people to enter a PIN code before changing account info, and the code is only accessible through Find My iPhone or a text message to a pre-registered phone number.

As a response to the exploit, Apple has disabled the iForgot webpage, used for password recovery and retrieval. Apple has not made any public comment on this matter, or given any timetable for the page's return.

determined and specific attack. Finding out someone's specific birthday and email address isn't hard if you know them, obviously, but if you don't know them that would take quite a bit of doing. While not meaning to suggest that this isn't a serious flaw, I suspect reports "in the wild" of such problems will be limited to pranksters within the victim's own circle of family or friends.

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